Indonesia–Malaysia relations
Encyclopedia
Indonesia–Malaysia relations are foreign bilateral relations between Indonesia
and Malaysia.
Indonesia
and Malaysia are two neighboring nations that shared similarities in many aspects. Both Malaysia and Indonesia have many common characteristic traits, these include common frames of reference in history, culture and religion. Although both countries are separate and independent states, there are also deeply embedded similarities. Their national languages; Indonesian language
and Malay language
are closely related. The majority of the population of both nations were of Austronesian ancestry or of the Malay race
, with significant Malay culture shared among them. Both nations are Muslim majority countries, the founding members of ASEAN and APEC, and also the members of the Non-aligned Movement
and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Despite sharing so many similarities, tied by common religion, language, proximity and a cultural heritage that dates back centuries, yet both nations have been lurching from one diplomatic spat to another.
Indonesia has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur
and consulate generals in Johor Bahru
, George Town
, Kota Kinabalu
and Kuching
. Malaysia has an embassy in Jakarta and a consulate general in Medan
and Pekanbaru
.
and History of Malaysia
were often intertwined. Throughout their history the borders of ancient kingdoms and empires — such as Srivijaya
, Majapahit, Malacca
, Aceh
and Johor-Riau — often comprised both modern day countries.
Relations between the two nations deteriorated under President Sukarno
in 1962 (see Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, see Indonesian withdrawal from the United Nations). The conflict resulted from Indonesian opposition to the formation of Malaysia, from a merger of the Federation of Malaya with two former British colonies on Borneo: Sarawak and Sabah.
After the fall of Sukarno, relations between Indonesia and Malaysia were restored under President Suharto; as both parties agreed to normalize the bilateral relationship and pursued peaceful cooperation and partnership. In 1967, both countries together with Philippines
, Singapore
and Thailand
founded ASEAN to ensure the peace and stability in the region.
and British Malaya
colonial rule. Currently, both nations are in a territorial dispute over the oil rich islands of Ambalat
. Previously, they were over territorial disputes over the islands of Sipadan
and Ligitan
, which were won by Malaysia.
The recent border disputes arisen in Malacca strait and South China Sea
area mainly because the disagreement on exact locations of maritime naval borders in these waters. Both parties involved in arresting and detaining their counterpart's officials and fishermen accused on territorial breaching violations and illegal fishing.
: TKI abbreviation of Tenaga Kerja Indonesia) has become the important issue between both countries. In 1980s to 1990s Malaysia saw the remarkable growth and development on economy, industrialization and modernization. With its large population and large workforce, Indonesian jobseekers suddenly began to regard Malaysia as an attractive destination for works and improving their economy. In 1997 both Indonesia and Malaysia were hit by financial crisis that prompted the fall of Suharto regime. Indonesian suffer the worst, large of them lost their job and large influx of Indonesian jobseeker migrant workers began to poured into Malaysia, which in return could caused social problems in Malaysia, such as competition for jobs, crime and poverty.
The problems plaguing Indonesian migrant workers such as illegal immigration, crime, human trafficking
, abuse, poor treatment and extortion upon migrant workers. Approximately 300,000 domestic workers, most of them from Indonesia, are employed in Malaysia. Many work up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, for wages of 400 to 600 ringgit (US$118–177) a month and typically must turn over the first six to seven months of their salary to repay exorbitant recruitment fees. Some suffer physical or sexual violence from employers. Since 2009 Indonesia temporarily stop sending domestic workers to Malaysia until both countries agree on ways to protect them. Indonesia resume sending migrant workers to Malaysia in May 2011 as both countries sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) about worker protection by the end of April 2011.
and Malaysia
— also because of significant numbers of Indonesian-origin immigrants in today Malaysian demographic — both countries are often involved in disputes over cultural claims of the origin. Through intensive tourism campaign, Malaysia has featured many of famous cultural icons such as Batik
, the song Rasa Sayange
, Wayang
, Gamelan
and angklung
instrument, and Reog
(Barongan) dance as Malaysia's original. This aggressive tourism promotions and cultural campaigns had alarmed and upset Indonesians that always tought that these arts and cultures were belongs to them. As the reaction, many Indonesians felt the need to safeguard their cultural legacies, and to the extreme developed the anti-Malaysia sentiments. In 2009 the Pendet controversy
fuelled again the cultural disputes among neighbours. The advertisement promoting Discovery Channel's programme "Enigmatic Malaysia" featured Balinese Pendet
dancer which it incorrectly showed to be a Malaysian dance.
On the other hand the shared language and culture have its own benefits on connecting the people of both countries. For example Indonesian popular cultures such as Indonesian musics, film
s and sinetrons are popular in Malaysia. Numerous Indonesian bands and musicians have their fan-base in Malaysia and often performed some concerts in Malaysia. Vice versa Malaysian singers such as Sheila Majid
and Siti Nurhaliza
are beloved and popular in Indonesia. Malaysian animation Upin & Ipin
with deep Malay culture had also gain wide popularity and appeal among Indonesian children and families. However this cultural exchanges is not always appreciated, the overwhelming popularity of Indonesian music in Malaysia had alarmed the Malaysian music industry. In 2008 Malaysian music industry demanded the restriction of Indonesian songs on Malaysian radio broadcasts.
and Kalimantan
were causing haze
and smoke fog that blown northwards by wind and had reached Malaysia and Singapore. The haze is clearly hazardeous for health and dangerous for transportation, especially flight safety in the region. Malaysian and Singaporean government had noted their protest and urged Indonesian government to reduce the hotspots. In the peak of the haze that usually occur during dry season, Malaysian and Singaporean offer assistance to put off the fires. Today Indonesian government had banned the slash and burn practice.
Another important environment issue is transborder Illegal logging
. Indonesian government has expressed the concern that many rainforest along Indonesia—Malaysia borders in Borneo
were suffering illegal loggings, mostly done by Malaysian loggers. The concern was arroused because Malaysian authorities seems has done nothing to prevent the crime or to the extreeme seems to encourage this practice to increase Malaysian timber yield.
On the other hands Indonesian media also had accused the government-controlled media in Malaysia to often presenting negative opinions and poor images on Indonesia and Indonesian people as the political agenda to prevent the Indonesian reformation and democratic movement to spill beyond its borders. The government of Indonesia also had sent the notes of protest for Malaysian media on using the term indon to refer for Indonesia and Indonesian people that considered as derogatory.
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Malaysia.
Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Malaysia are two neighboring nations that shared similarities in many aspects. Both Malaysia and Indonesia have many common characteristic traits, these include common frames of reference in history, culture and religion. Although both countries are separate and independent states, there are also deeply embedded similarities. Their national languages; Indonesian language
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
and Malay language
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
are closely related. The majority of the population of both nations were of Austronesian ancestry or of the Malay race
Malay race
The concept of a Malay race was proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach , and classified as the brown race. Since Blumenbach, many anthropologists have rejected his theory of five races, citing the enormous complexity of classifying races...
, with significant Malay culture shared among them. Both nations are Muslim majority countries, the founding members of ASEAN and APEC, and also the members of the Non-aligned Movement
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...
and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Despite sharing so many similarities, tied by common religion, language, proximity and a cultural heritage that dates back centuries, yet both nations have been lurching from one diplomatic spat to another.
Indonesia has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
and consulate generals in Johor Bahru
Johor Bahru
Johor Bahru is the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia. Johor Bahru is the southernmost city of the Eurasian mainland...
, George Town
George Town, Penang
George Town was voted as one of the best cities in Asia by Asiaweek, ranked 6th in 1998 and 9th in 2000. More recently, George Town has improved a notch to rank as the 9th most liveable city in Asia in a survey of 254 cities worldwide according to an international location ratings survey by , an...
, Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu , formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in East Malaysia. It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies on one side and Mount...
and Kuching
Kuching
Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....
. Malaysia has an embassy in Jakarta and a consulate general in Medan
Medan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
and Pekanbaru
Pekanbaru
Pekanbaru is the capital of Riau, a province in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra. It has an area of 632.26 km² and a population of 903,902. Located on the Siak River, which drains to the Strait of Malacca...
.
History
The History of IndonesiaHistory of Indonesia
The History of Indonesia was shaped by its geographic position, its natural resources, the series of human migrations, contacts, economy and trade, conquests and politics. Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,508 islands stretching along the equator in South East Asia...
and History of Malaysia
History of Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in South East Asia whose strategic sea-lane position brought trade and foreign influences that fundamentally influenced its history. Hindu and Buddhist cultures imported from India dominated early Malaysian history...
were often intertwined. Throughout their history the borders of ancient kingdoms and empires — such as Srivijaya
Srivijaya
Srivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...
, Majapahit, Malacca
Malacca Sultanate
Established by the Malay ruler Parameswara, the Sultanate of Malacca was first a Hindu kingdom in 1402 and later became Muslim following the marriage of the princess of Pasai in 1409. Centered in the modern town of Malacca, the sultanate bordered the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Siam in the north to...
, Aceh
Aceh Sultanate
The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam was a sultanate centered in the modern area of Aceh Province, Sumatra, Indonesia, which was a major regional power in the 16th and 17th centuries, before experiencing a long period of decline...
and Johor-Riau — often comprised both modern day countries.
Relations between the two nations deteriorated under President Sukarno
Sukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
in 1962 (see Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, see Indonesian withdrawal from the United Nations). The conflict resulted from Indonesian opposition to the formation of Malaysia, from a merger of the Federation of Malaya with two former British colonies on Borneo: Sarawak and Sabah.
After the fall of Sukarno, relations between Indonesia and Malaysia were restored under President Suharto; as both parties agreed to normalize the bilateral relationship and pursued peaceful cooperation and partnership. In 1967, both countries together with Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
founded ASEAN to ensure the peace and stability in the region.
Territory
Most of the current borders were inherited from Dutch East IndiesDutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
and British Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
colonial rule. Currently, both nations are in a territorial dispute over the oil rich islands of Ambalat
Ambalat
Ambalat is a sea block in the Celebes sea which is currently in part of Indonesia sovereignty. Ambalat sea block is located off the coast of the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan and south-east of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Malaysia refers to part of the Ambalat block as Block ND6 and part...
. Previously, they were over territorial disputes over the islands of Sipadan
Sipadan
Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, East Malaysia . It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop...
and Ligitan
Ligitan
Ligitan is a small island in Tawau, Sabah, located east of the island of Borneo, in the Celebes Sea. In the past, the island was at the centre of a territorial dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia...
, which were won by Malaysia.
The recent border disputes arisen in Malacca strait and South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
area mainly because the disagreement on exact locations of maritime naval borders in these waters. Both parties involved in arresting and detaining their counterpart's officials and fishermen accused on territorial breaching violations and illegal fishing.
Migrant worker
The Indonesian migrant worker (IndonesianIndonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
: TKI abbreviation of Tenaga Kerja Indonesia) has become the important issue between both countries. In 1980s to 1990s Malaysia saw the remarkable growth and development on economy, industrialization and modernization. With its large population and large workforce, Indonesian jobseekers suddenly began to regard Malaysia as an attractive destination for works and improving their economy. In 1997 both Indonesia and Malaysia were hit by financial crisis that prompted the fall of Suharto regime. Indonesian suffer the worst, large of them lost their job and large influx of Indonesian jobseeker migrant workers began to poured into Malaysia, which in return could caused social problems in Malaysia, such as competition for jobs, crime and poverty.
The problems plaguing Indonesian migrant workers such as illegal immigration, crime, human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
, abuse, poor treatment and extortion upon migrant workers. Approximately 300,000 domestic workers, most of them from Indonesia, are employed in Malaysia. Many work up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, for wages of 400 to 600 ringgit (US$118–177) a month and typically must turn over the first six to seven months of their salary to repay exorbitant recruitment fees. Some suffer physical or sexual violence from employers. Since 2009 Indonesia temporarily stop sending domestic workers to Malaysia until both countries agree on ways to protect them. Indonesia resume sending migrant workers to Malaysia in May 2011 as both countries sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) about worker protection by the end of April 2011.
Culture
Because of many similarities and shared cultures between IndonesiaCulture of Indonesia
Indonesian culture has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia is central along ancient trading routes between the Far East and the Middle East, resulting in many cultural practices being strongly influenced by a multitude of...
and Malaysia
Culture of Malaysia
The Culture of Malaysia draws on the varied cultures of the different people of Malaysia. The first people to live in the area were indigenous tribes that still remain; they were followed by the Malays, who moved there from mainland Asia in ancient times...
— also because of significant numbers of Indonesian-origin immigrants in today Malaysian demographic — both countries are often involved in disputes over cultural claims of the origin. Through intensive tourism campaign, Malaysia has featured many of famous cultural icons such as Batik
Batik
Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.Javanese traditional batik, especially from...
, the song Rasa Sayange
Rasa Sayange
"Rasa Sayang" or "Rasa Sayange" is a Malay folk song popular in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The basis of "Rasa Sayang" is somewhat similar to Dondang Sayang and many other Malay folk songs, which take their form from the pantun, a traditional Ethnic Malays poetic form...
, Wayang
Wayang
Wayang is a Javanese word for theatre . When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theatre, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang...
, Gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
and angklung
Angklung
The Angklung is a musical instrument made of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved to have a resonant pitch when struck and are tuned to octaves. The base of the frame is held in one hand, whilst the other hand shakes the instrument rapidly. This causes a repeating note...
instrument, and Reog
Reog
Reog is a traditional Indonesian dance form.There are many types of Reogs in Indonesia, but the most notable ones are Reog Ponorogo and Reog Sunda . Although both share a similar name, there is no connection nor similar theme among these traditions...
(Barongan) dance as Malaysia's original. This aggressive tourism promotions and cultural campaigns had alarmed and upset Indonesians that always tought that these arts and cultures were belongs to them. As the reaction, many Indonesians felt the need to safeguard their cultural legacies, and to the extreme developed the anti-Malaysia sentiments. In 2009 the Pendet controversy
2009 Pendet controversy
In 2009, an advertisement promoting Enigmatic Malaysia featured Balinese Pendet dancers which it incorrectly showed to be a Malaysian dance, which caused anger in Indonesia....
fuelled again the cultural disputes among neighbours. The advertisement promoting Discovery Channel's programme "Enigmatic Malaysia" featured Balinese Pendet
Pendet
Pendet is a traditional dance from Bali, Indonesia, in which offerings are made to purify the temple or theater as a prelude to ceremonies or other dances. Pendet is typically performed by young girls, carrying bowls of flower petals, handfuls of which are cast into the air at various times in the...
dancer which it incorrectly showed to be a Malaysian dance.
On the other hand the shared language and culture have its own benefits on connecting the people of both countries. For example Indonesian popular cultures such as Indonesian musics, film
Cinema of Indonesia
Though the cinema of Indonesia has a long history, the industry is currently struggling and developing.-Colonial era:The first film made in Indonesia was the 1926 silent film, Loetoeng Kasaroeng, by Dutch directors G. Kruger and L. Heuveldorp...
s and sinetrons are popular in Malaysia. Numerous Indonesian bands and musicians have their fan-base in Malaysia and often performed some concerts in Malaysia. Vice versa Malaysian singers such as Sheila Majid
Sheila Majid
Shaheila binti Abdul Majid or commonly known as Sheila Majid is a popular singer from Malaysia. She is of Mandailing-Javanese descent. - Biography :...
and Siti Nurhaliza
Siti Nurhaliza
Dato', or occasionally Datin Seri, Siti Nurhaliza binti Tarudin DIMP, JSM, SAP, PMP, AAP is a Malaysian singer, songwriter, record producer, television presenter and businesswoman. To date, she has garnered more than 200 local awards as well as international awards...
are beloved and popular in Indonesia. Malaysian animation Upin & Ipin
Upin & Ipin
Upin & Ipin is a Malaysian television series of animated shorts produced by Les' Copaque Production, which features the life and adventures of the eponymous twin brothers in a fictional Malaysian kampung...
with deep Malay culture had also gain wide popularity and appeal among Indonesian children and families. However this cultural exchanges is not always appreciated, the overwhelming popularity of Indonesian music in Malaysia had alarmed the Malaysian music industry. In 2008 Malaysian music industry demanded the restriction of Indonesian songs on Malaysian radio broadcasts.
Environment
The slash and burn practice to clear the lands for palm plantations in SumatraSumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
and Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
were causing haze
Haze
Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classification of horizontal obscuration into categories of fog, ice fog, steam fog, mist, haze, smoke, volcanic...
and smoke fog that blown northwards by wind and had reached Malaysia and Singapore. The haze is clearly hazardeous for health and dangerous for transportation, especially flight safety in the region. Malaysian and Singaporean government had noted their protest and urged Indonesian government to reduce the hotspots. In the peak of the haze that usually occur during dry season, Malaysian and Singaporean offer assistance to put off the fires. Today Indonesian government had banned the slash and burn practice.
Another important environment issue is transborder Illegal logging
Illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the...
. Indonesian government has expressed the concern that many rainforest along Indonesia—Malaysia borders in Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
were suffering illegal loggings, mostly done by Malaysian loggers. The concern was arroused because Malaysian authorities seems has done nothing to prevent the crime or to the extreeme seems to encourage this practice to increase Malaysian timber yield.
Media
Malaysians expressed their concern that media in Indonesia seems to encouraging and fostering the anti-Malaysia sentiments through distorted news coverages, exaggerations and blowing the issues beyond the proportions. Malaysian government concerned about anti-Malaysia sentiments, protest and aggressive actions of certain extremists amids the bilateral spats over a Balinese dance and the mistreatment of Indonesian housemaids in Malaysia. Malaysia government also stated had run out of patience and sent a protest letter to Indonesia after a demonstration triggered by a maritime dispute.On the other hands Indonesian media also had accused the government-controlled media in Malaysia to often presenting negative opinions and poor images on Indonesia and Indonesian people as the political agenda to prevent the Indonesian reformation and democratic movement to spill beyond its borders. The government of Indonesia also had sent the notes of protest for Malaysian media on using the term indon to refer for Indonesia and Indonesian people that considered as derogatory.